Curse of the Goldenrod
by ExtirpateInterAlia
Summary: Lyra wakes up in the middle of the Goldenrod Department Store with all her Pokémon missing and not remembering what happened. As she desperately searches for answers across the city, even stranger things start happening and she wonders – is this all an elaborate dream or is it something far more sinister and deadly? Note: This story is not what you're expecting.
1. Department Store

She was suddenly aware of many sounds around her and she slowly opened her eyes, rubbing them as many bright lights cut through her blurry vision and dazzled her. At first she thought she had been asleep at home or while camping somewhere outdoors but now, it was apparent that she had been unconscious and was in the middle of a public place. As the fog in her head and her eyes cleared, she sat up and looked around. Shards of broken glass surrounded her, keeping the crowds of people in the background from coming near and stepping on her. Where was she? What was she doing in this place? She had been lying sprawled on the floor, unconscious for… how long? And now, as she struggled to regain her bearings and to recall what had happened, she suddenly realised where she was – the first floor of the Goldenrod Department Store!

All around her, shoppers moved up and down the escalators, happily chatting with one another and testing their new purchases on their Pokémon, all ostensibly oblivious to the girl who had been lying spread-eagled in the middle of the lobby surrounded by broken glass. That was when she remembered she was a Trainer and quickly felt around for her Poké Balls. That surge of panic that shot through her as she fumbled around for her Poké Balls immediately grew into a tide that swept over her as she realised that she could not find them. Quickly springing to her feet caused a wave of dizziness and nausea to overwhelm her and she fell back down, clutching her head feebly.

"Ow… Someone help!" she cried weakly

Immediately, a shop assistant sprang into her field of vision out of nowhere. "Hello, welcome to Goldenrod Department Store! My name is Jill. How may I be of assistance?" the shop assistant chirped, as if it was completely normal for a customer to be sprawled on the floor looking violently ill.

"Oh my goodness! What happened here? Did you break these?" The shop assistant named Jill suddenly became aware of the pieces of broken glass surrounding Lyra, ignoring the fact that Lyra looked as though she were about to throw up.

"I've no idea what happened! I just –"

"I'm sorry ma'am, but you will have to pay for these. Let's get you over to customer service!" Jill said brightly while strong-arming the weakly-protesting Lyra to her feet and hauling her over the glass, which scraped against her sneakers, to the customer service counter.

"This one," Jill said simply, while pointing at Lyra, to the vacant-looking man behind the counter before walking away.

"Look here, I have no idea what happened! I just woke up and –"

"I know all about you. I was watching you," the man said in a monotone, staring straight ahead through half-lidded eyes as if he were looking at a computer monitor instead of a person's face.

"You were? Then can you tell me how I ended up here? And what happened to my Pokémon?" Lyra asked desperately. For all she knew, Team Rocket could have stolen her dear Meganium to conduct all sorts of horrible experiments.

"No."

"What?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"…"

"Excuse me! I'm just trying to find my Pokémon and find out what happened! Couldn't you at least help me?"

"I have sounded the alarm. The police are on their way. Security will take charge of you in the meantime," the man deadpanned without flinching or his expression changing at all. A burly man in uniform with the word "Security" printed on his jacket appeared instantaneously by her side and took her by the arm. Lyra was flabbergasted at this asinine and bizarre response but since she had nowhere else to go and thought that the police could help her, she quietly complied as the security guard marched her into the department store's administrative office, past cubicles of clerks typing furiously at their computers, to a backroom.

The room was basically a small cubicle with no door or windows and only a fluorescent tube of lighting on the ceiling. It was bare except for a few cardboard boxes stacked in a corner. After opening the door and pushing her in, the guard slammed the door shut and locked it, sealing her in alone.

What was going on? Being sealed in such a small and confined room made Lyra feel claustrophobic, making her nausea and dizziness return. That was when the pile of cardboard boxes started to rustle. Supporting herself against the wall with one hand, she slowly inched toward the boxes, curious and slightly afraid to see what was inside. Then just as she bent down to inspect them, one of the boxes burst open and a Banette shot out from it.

Falling backwards and screeching in surprise, she looked up at the marionette Pokémon. Its sinister red eyes fixed on hers and it let out a chilling cackle before it lunged down straight at her face.

She heard only her own screams before everything went black.


	2. Game Corner

Lyra awoke with a start and shivered from the cold night air enveloping her. Was that a dream? Something was clutched in her hand and she inspected it. It was a coin from the Goldenrod Game Corner but this one emblazoned with a picture of a Banette instead of a Voltorb, which was the normal design. Things had become so weird that she stopped wondering where the coin had come from or why she was even lying out in the open after being attacked in a storeroom. Instead, she looked around her and took in her surroundings. She was at the Rooftop Atrium of Goldenrod Department Store and it was sometime late at night because the normally-bustling plaza was now deserted. And her Poké Balls were still missing. _Damn, so it wasn't a dream after all._

Gazing over the railings at the lights and streets of Goldenrod City below and pondering her next move, a banging sound from behind her caught her attention. Turning, she saw one of the vending machines rattling and rocking back and forth. Banging noises were coming from it as though someone was trapped inside the machine and trying to escape.

Terror shot up her spine, not least because the memories of her Banette 'dream' were still fresh. Nevertheless, she inched carefully towards the machine, which was the furthest from her in a line of three. It looked ordinary, no different from the other two machines which offered Fresh Water, Soda Pop and Lemonade. Still, someone or something was obviously inside. And because she had no other spare change, she took the Banette coin and inserted it into the machine's coin slot. Instead of the buttons illuminating to await her choice of beverage, the vending machine gave one final violent lurch and spat out a Poké Ball, before returning her the coin.

Lyra was a Trainer. Now taking the mysterious Poké Ball in hand, she told herself that whatever creature was in this Poké Ball was now under her control. She steadied herself and took a deep breath, then opened the Poké Ball. It was no surprise to her that a Banette came out but even so, she gave a small yelp of fright and backed away in anticipation of another attack. This Banette however floated gently to her and nuzzled her tenderly, as though she were its long-time Trainer. As she hesitantly stroked the Ghost Pokémon, she noticed that it was slightly injured as though it had just fought a battle. Whoever had knocked her unconscious and taken away her Pokémon were probably the same people who had put this Banette inside the vending machine. And as she realised this, she also realised that she had another clue from which to proceed – the Game Corner coin.

* * *

Though it was late at night, the Game Corner was still open because of the type of crowd it attracted. The Goldenrod City Game Corner still retained its slot machines, which were reserved for the exclusive use of adults. Being under 18 years of age though, Lyra was conducted by the Game Corner bouncers to the "junior section". Here, in a smaller hallway was a large card table and behind that table on a moth-bitten sofa sat a creepy and withered old man who called himself Mr. Game – a washed-up skank wearing a faded and ill-fitting suit, who had nothing to do with his life but literally gamble it away. Lyra knew him because she had played his Voltorb Flip game many times and with sheer luck, had finally won her prized Dratini. This was the man she was looking to see.

"Well, hello there! If it isn't the very lucky Lyra!" Mr. Game crooned while giving Lyra a paedophilic smile. "Back for another game? My heart pounds with excitement when people enjoy my Coin game!" He grinned slyly, emphasizing the words 'pounds' and 'excitement' in a suggestive manner.

Ignoring the chills creeping under her skin, Lyra maintained her composure and held up the Banette coin. "No games today. Is this coin from you?"

Upon catching sight of the coin with its finely embossed Banette print, Mr. Game's face straightened and he stood up. "This is not the place to discuss this. Let's go somewhere more private."

The old man led Lyra to a room in which there was a smaller card table and a chair on either side of it. Lyra saw that rows of Game Corner coins were laid out on the table in a grid normally used for Voltorb Flip cards. In the centre of the grid, an empty space indicated that a coin was missing.

"Please," Mr. Game said as he ushered her to take her seat on one of the chairs. He then took the coin from her, closed and locked the door, and sat on the other chair, replacing her coin in the centre of the grid.

"Now if you want answers, I will suggest that you play along. We will now play the Voltorb Flip Coin game," Mr. Game said in a serious tone, before pulling out four Poké Balls and opening them to reveal four Voltorbs who took their positions at the four corners of the room.

Mr. Game alone with her in a locked room, threatening her with four Pokémon into compliance. If it wasn't for the fact that he had completely shed his usual jovial paedophilic disposition and looked dead serious, Lyra would have kicked him in the groin under the table and run screaming out of the room.

* * *

The game had begun.

Lyra was still the physical manifestation of Lady Luck on earth and breezed through the first 12 rounds of the Voltorb Flip game, opening all the Banette coins and choosing no Voltorb coins. But alas came the 13th round and she only had 1 more Banette coin to find. This game was considerably harder as instead of 3s, 2s, 1s and Voltorbs, there were only Banette and Voltorb coins, with the number of Voltorb coins being equivalent to the number of 1 and Voltorb cards in a normal game.

As cold sweat poured down her forehead, Lyra suddenly remembered what her original purpose in coming here was. "Why are we even playing this game? What does this have to do with anything?"

"Now, now, don't be impatient. We are at the final round," Mr. Game said coldly.

Looking back down at the grid, Lyra considered where the final Banette could be. And then she realised that according to the grid, there could be no more Banettes – only Voltorbs were left.

"There are no more Banettes left!"

A flicker of emotion briefly showed on Mr. Game's face. Then it broke out into a full, crooked evil grin. "Exactly."

He then seized her hand and made it flip over one of the remaining coins.

"A Voltorb! You lose! **GAME OVER!** " he yelled in triumph.

And upon the pronouncement of those two final words, the Voltorbs at the corners of the room ignited simultaneously and erupted in an earth-shattering explosion.

Everything went white.


	3. Basement

She was suddenly aware of many sounds around her and she slowly opened her eyes, rubbing them as many bright lights cut through her blurry vision and dazzled her. At first she thought she had been asleep at home or while camping somewhere outdoors but now, it was apparent that she had been unconscious and was in the middle of a public place. As the fog in her head and her eyes cleared, she sat up and looked around. Charred remains of something surrounded her, keeping the crowds of people in the background from coming near and stepping on her. Where was she? What was she doing in this place? She had been lying sprawled on the floor, unconscious for… how long? And now, as she struggled to regain her bearings and to recall what had happened, she suddenly realised where she was – the first floor of the Goldenrod Department Store!

All around her, shoppers moved up and down the escalators, happily chatting with one another and testing their new purchases on their Pokémon, all ostensibly oblivious to the girl who had been lying spread-eagled in the middle of the lobby surrounded by burnt debris. That was when she remembered she was a Trainer and quickly felt around for her Poké Balls. That surge of panic that shot through her as she fumbled around for her Poké Balls immediately grew into a tide that swept over her as she realised that she could only find one. And then she remembered – remembered everything that had happened since she awoke in this spot, seemingly in another dream. A powerful sense of déjà vu swept over her.

Pulling herself to her feet, she looked around and saw the shop assistant Jill standing near the entrance of the store conferring with a group of security guards. Upon noticing that she was conscious and on her feet, Jill gestured frantically at her and said something urgently to the guards. The guards turned to stare at her and immediately, Lyra knew what to do though she didn't know why – run.

Up the escalator she went and soon enough, the group of security men followed, shouting at her to stop. There was nowhere else to go but up and up all the way and so she ascended the floors, the team of guards chasing her and yelling threats all the way. As if this scenario weren't absurd enough, things just became nonsensical. As Lyra raced across the fifth floor for the escalator to the sixth, she bumped into a woman customer who was in her way. Before she could mutter a quick apology and sidestep her, the woman whirled around to face her and her expression made Lyra stop dead in her tracks; it was a look of absolute terror. " **THE FRILLISH IS HERE!** " the woman screamed, backing away in fright. Immediately, all activity in the mall ceased and all eyes fixed onto Lyra for a few silent, tense moments. Then pandemonium broke loose as shoppers panicked, screaming and fleeing in all directions as though Lyra were one of the walking dead. People trampled over each other, jumped over the railings to the lower floors and even smashed windows and leaped out of them. Was this for real? She was absolutely stupefied. What the heck was going on?

In the midst of the chaos, Lyra suddenly remembered that she was the one who had been running. Turning around, she saw that the security guards had just succeeded in pushing their way through the stampeding crowd and were now standing 20 metres away from her. Without a word, the guard at the head of the security detail opened his mouth impossibly wide and spat out… Spikes? The projectiles that he gargled out certainly looked identical to the Pokémon attack as they landed around Lyra's feet. The other guards who stood behind this one then surged past him with their arms outstretched towards Lyra, shouting indiscernibly.

Without hesitating, she kicked the Spikes away and ran in the other direction as fast as she could. Grabbing something off a counter as she passed, she hurled it at her pursuers before realising that it was a TM and wouldn't do much to slow them down. But once again, she was proven wrong as she heard pained shouts from behind her. Turning her head while still running, she saw that the disc she threw had shattered and ignited, creating a large bonfire which the security guards were now leaping around in. Perhaps that one contained Fire Blast.

Pressing on, she charged up the final escalator, while looking back. The guards had somehow circumvented the fire with impossible adroitness and were now rounding the final corner to the escalator. Lyra was just a girl, being chased by a group of grown, physically-fit men. It didn't take much to figure out who would win the chase. Something else had to be done.

Reaching the final floor and panting, Lyra pulled out the Poké Ball and released Banette. "Banette… Night Shade!" she wheezed, pointing at the guards who were now halfway up the escalator.

The marionette Pokémon turned towards the indicated targets, its eyes glowing crimson. With a cackle, it then released a wave of dark energy which knocked the guards on the escalator off their feet, causing them to end up in a flailing heap on the landing of the fifth floor. Quickly, Lyra returned Banette back into its Poké Ball and sprinted for the elevators, which were the only viable route of escape now. Reaching the lift lobby, one of the elevators already had its doors readily open, an invitation to safe haven. Lyra was too desperate to escape to realise that an elevator waiting for her with its doors open was something to be treated with suspicion. Upon stepping inside, the doors closed and the elevator immediately descended without command. Lyra could only watch the floor numbers decrease as she leaned against the wall catching her breath, a heavy sense of apprehension building in the pit of her stomach.

Finally, the elevator reached basement level and its doors opened. In front of her was only darkness but because the elevator's buttons did not respond to her, she had little choice but to step out. When she did, the lift doors closed and the car ascended, leaving Lyra alone, trapped in the pitch-dark basement.


	4. Warehouse

"Alright Banette, can you light up this place?" Lyra asked the Ghost Pokémon as she called it out of its Poké Ball. Eerily, she could only see a pair of sinister red eyes twinkling in the darkness but for now, she trusted the Pokémon.

Giggling, Banette complied and balls of blue flame appeared, surrounding both Pokémon and trainer in a ring. _Will-O-Wisp._ Moving its arms, Banette telepathically fanned out the blue flames across the room, illuminating the vast basement in a chilling blue glow. It was a big room with many pillars of sealed cardboard boxes piled to the ceiling, bearing labels like "Potion" or "X Speed". Lyra sincerely hoped that there would not be another Pokémon waiting in one of these boxes to spring out at her again.

However, the Trainer nature in her got the better of her and she could not just leave those boxes alone, especially since they were full of potentially-useful items. Finding a box labelled "Battle Items", she excitedly scratched the tape around the box off with her fingernails and forced the box open. Her excitement was rewarded as the box was indeed filled with many valuable items that she knew she could use, like Life Orbs and Assault Vests. She quickly filled her bag with a few of these before regaining awareness of her surroundings and looking around to make sure that no one else was watching. No security cameras were in sight and only Banette observed cavalierly. Standing up hurriedly, clutching her bag tighter and pretending that she hadn't just robbed the Goldenrod Department Store, she walked on, leaving the raided box in a corner. Weaving around more stacks of boxes and resisting the urge to open them, she headed to the exit at the far corner, the tongues of fire leading the way and Banette dutifully following behind.

* * *

After navigating the maze of corridors and rooms that were the Department Store's basement, Lyra finally came to a wrought iron door that was sealed shut, with a control panel on the wall as its side. As she stepped forward to inspect this panel, the door suddenly rumbled and slid open from bottom to top. On the display of the panel, a digital message appeared: _Goodbye, Lyra._

A cry of shock escaped her lips and she leapt back, horrified that someone or something was watching her and that he/she/it seemed to be leading her toward her demise. Backing away, she turned around and saw that Banette still floated about the same spot, waiting for her to step through the door. Its eyes still stared unblinkingly and sinisterly at her and it still bore a huge ominous grin that seemed to border on excitement at something about to happen. Something definitely was not right and Banette seemed to know something she didn't. Still, there was no other way out of this basement. And anyway, if she had supposedly survived a ghost Pokémon ripping off her face and a combined Explosion attack, Lyra reasoned that maybe whatever awaited behind the door might not necessarily be the permanent mortal end of her. Mustering her courage, she stepped through and saw a long flight of stairs downward. This time however, the staircase and wherever the staircase led were dimly lit.

As she had no more need for Banette's Will-O-Wisp for now, she returned it to its Poké Ball and descended the stairs cautiously, reaching a narrow corridor that opened up to a single large room. The room had a dizzyingly-high ceiling, probably 6 or 7 metres high with dim and flickering fluorescent tubes providing dull lighting. From wall to wall, numerous partitions were built, making the room resemble a gigantic maze. The partitions were around three-quarters the height of the room. If not for the labyrinthine structure of the partitions and the ominously-high ceiling, this would have resembled something like a corporate office which had been emptied of its staff and then used as a basement warehouse; which it probably was. In and around these cubicles were stacks of sealed cardboard boxes and other miscellaneous office furniture, like desks and filing cabinets, positioned randomly and haphazardly. All of these were caked in a thick layer of dust. _Nothing to do but find the next exit from this maze, probably._

Deciding to rely on Pokémon again, Lyra called Banette out of its Poké Ball asked it to help her find an exit. The marionette Pokémon merely continued smiling and floated stationary. Sighing, she entered the maze and Banette followed behind, rather like an amused and casual spectator.

* * *

After an hour or so of moving through the maze and getting her bearings based on the objects around her, Lyra arrived at what she believed was the middle of the room. It was a large chamber, bare except for a dusty table and on it, a Poké Ball. A surge of hope passed through her. As she neared the table, she saw that the Poké Ball had a number of star Seals pasted near its base, and the hope in her turned to excitement. It was her Dragonair's Poké Ball!

She ran with joy over to the table and scooped up the ball. As she did, a low rumble filled the room, sounding like a large machine somewhere near had been activated and was now starting up its processes. Paying no heed to this in her euphoria at finding one of her Pokémon though, Lyra pressed the button on the ball. Nothing happened. Frowning, she pressed harder and held down the button but still, nothing happened. _How strange._ Poké Ball failure was almost unheard both hands on either hemisphere of the ball, Lyra grunted in frustration as she tried to manually force the device open. In the midst of her efforts to open the Poké Ball, Lyra suddenly felt a cold sensation enveloping her feet. Looking down, she gasped in horror as she realised that that water had flooded the warehouse up to her ankles and was rapidly increasing. She also suddenly became aware of the deafening roar of gushing water coming to her from somewhere across the room.

Quickly, she pocketed Dragonair's ball and sloshing through the water, retraced her steps. Because she was a Trainer who had travelled not just through cities but caves and jungles as well, Lyra had developed a good sense of direction and this served her well, placing her at the start of the maze in just under 20 minutes. Reaching the staircase which she had descended and looking up, Lyra stared in horror after realising that the metal door from which she had entered was now tightly shut. Reaching the electronic control panel and pressing on it did not make the door budge. The digital display still bore the same message, its meaning now ominously clear. _Goodbye, Lyra._

There had to be another way of escape. Wasting no time, she charged back into the maze, the water at this point above her knees. The layer of dust on everything turned the water a noxious blackish colour. Behind her, Banette easily kept pace with her, now seeming a little annoyed at being wet and endeavouring to remain above water but otherwise remaining calm.

 _Quickly, quickly!_

It was becoming increasingly difficult to move across the maze, the murky water at waist-level impeding her movements. "Banette! I need you to help me! If we both want to survive, we have to work together!" Lyra gasped, pleading with the Pokémon.

Unhappily, Banette floated past her, phasing through the wall in front of her. She didn't know what to make of this – whether the ghost would return and lead her out of this death trap or if it would abandon her. She continued pressing through the maze, praying that Banette would find another exit and return for her quickly.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to move. The water level was so high that her feet were barely touching the ground and she had to make swimming-like movements with her arms to propel herself forward. At least it was still a distance before the water reached the high ceiling. When it rose high enough, it would enable her to float above the maze partitions and look for an exit but if the doorway was of normal height, it meant that she would have to dive into the filthy water to pass through it. Also, there was no guarantee that whatever exit she found would lead to higher ground. Hearing a clacking sound, she turned and saw Banette hovering beside her, shaking its head. "No exit?" she asked, becoming even more desperate and the Pokémon continued shaking its head. _Just great._ There had to be another way. She racked her brains for a solution.

The way that this room was an enclosed area filled with water almost reminded her of… of a Pokémon battle stage that they had in gyms and other official League battle competitions. That's it! Maybe she could try something. Paddling around, the water now fully lifting her off the ground, she came to a tall filing cabinet. It had a detachable metal bar across its front, designed to allow the cabinet drawers to be locked with a padlock. However, thankfully this one was not locked down and she swam to it, struggling to yank the metal bar off with both hands while she pushed against the cupboard with both feet. With some difficulty, she finally dislodged the bar. Holding it with one hand, she rummaged in her bag, which was floating beside her head, with the other and managed to find what she was looking for: two Eject Buttons which she had taken from the box earlier. _Hopefully this works!_

"Here," she said, activating both buttons for battle use before handing Banette one and taking the other. "At the count of 3, you will use Astonish on me and I will… I will hit you with this metal bar at the same time." Banette did not look pleased. "… Gently. We need to do this to escape here. Please."

The marionette Pokémon did not respond but it did not shake its head either. Lyra chose to interpret this as grudging acquiescence. "1… 2… …," Lyra angled the metal bar with both hands, resting the other end of it just centimetres above Banette while the marionette Pokémon moved closer to her to ready its attack. "… 3!"

A dark silhouette shot out from Banette and knocked Lyra back. At the same time, she brought the metal bar onto Banette's evanescent body with a smack. In a flash of light emanating from the Eject Buttons, Lyra felt herself being propelled upwards by a sudden and violent force through the room. She felt herself smashing through the ceiling though she did not feel any pain, as though the force catapulting her had formed a force field around her, wrecking the ceiling without injuring her.

…

She must have blacked out for a short while because she suddenly opened her eyes and found herself lying flat on her back on the floor, completely dry and free of any of the scum that had been in the water. Banette was prostrate on the ground next to her and was slowly pulling itself up groggily, seemingly having been knocked out temporarily as well. However, the sounds of rushing water still came through the floor below her and she knew that she was still in the same reality and not in another dream.

Looking around her, she found herself in the middle of a wide corridor. It would have been brightly lit, except for the fact that many of the electrical lights were flickering or otherwise seemed to be blown out. But at least she recognised this place. It was the Goldenrod Tunnel – the tunnel that ran underground across the length of the city.

Lying back down, she allowed herself to breathe a deep sigh of relief at her good luck. Her plan had worked! She began chuckling to herself, her tensions eased at the realisation that she had once again narrowly escaped death. But her body immediately stiffened again when her giggles were replied with maniacal laughter echoing down the corridor around the corner from her. So, they were not alone. Standing up quickly, she pulled Banette up with her.

"Come on! We've got to keep moving!" she said determinedly to the Pokémon as she advanced carefully but steadily to the source of the ominous cachinnations.


	5. Tunnel

Maniacal laughter echoed off the walls and bounced around the inside of her ears, making her shudder with annoyance. But just as abruptly as it had begun, the laughter suddenly turned into a shrill screams. A multitude of prolonged and agonised screams, the piercing volume also translated into Lyra's agony as well. _What the hell?!_

Peeping round the corner of the corridor where she had found herself, Lyra came across a strange sight. This corridor led to a dead end and was filled with people, mostly young ones around her age. Some were running in circles, others lying on the floor and still others banging their heads on the wall. All were clutching their heads or clawing at their faces, screaming in torment. At the end of this hallway, an old woman sat behind a counter with her back to the wall, silently observing the spectacle with a neutral expression. A lopsided smile suddenly broke across her face and her head tilted sideways like a broken lampshade towards the direction of where Lyra believed herself to be concealed. "Hello Lyra, I can see you there!" Her squeaky voice, which sounded like an unoiled door hinge, could strangely be heard above the din being made. " **SILENCE!** " the old woman suddenly boomed in a deep masculine voice and with that, all the tormented souls in the corridor suddenly ceased their screams and crashed twitching onto the ground. Obviously, this woman was not normal at all.

"Oh don't worry sweetie. Come over here!" the old woman crooned, assuming her unoiled-hinge voice once more. She lifted a wrinkled hand and beckoned Lyra towards her. To Lyra, this old woman looked somewhat familiar.

"Do I know you? And what happened to all these… people?" Lyra hesitated, moving around the corner but refusing to go any nearer to the sinister hag smiling at her.

"Oh I gave them my herbs. These are very good medicine!" The old woman motioned at the people convulsing on the ground and Lyra noticed that they were fully conscious, eyes bloodshot and foaming slightly at the mouths. "EnergyPowder is good for you!" the old woman creaked, opening the palm of her other hand to reveal a heap of suspicious white powder. With a flick of her arm, she scattered the white powder across the room, as though she were throwing confetti. This had the effect of making the people on the floor start giggling uncontrollably. To Lyra however, the foul substance made her eyes water and burn while causing her to gag.

"Erm… N-No thanks…" Lyra managed to choke out while rubbing furiously at her eyes. She then covered her nose and mouth with her hand and inched away quickly. "By the way, do you happen to know who was behind whatever happened downstairs?"

"Try this Revival Herb, my dear. It will wake you up real good!" the woman's lopsided head turned even more until it was parallel to the ground. She pulled out a dirty and shrivelled bunch of long green leaves from under the counter and waved them at Lyra, completely ignoring the latter's question. Then suddenly, the creepy smile disappeared off her face and was replaced with a stern glare. Her head straightened in one swift motion, sudden enough, Lyra was sure, to cause whiplash. "TAKE THESE HERBS!" the woman screamed and hurled the bunch of leaves at Lyra. They fell to the floor a few metres short of where she was standing. Upon hitting the floor, the bunch of leaves burst into sparks and dissolved into what Lyra thought to be a large pile of soot. But she immediately realised that it was not soot because the black pile of debris starting moving rapidly towards her with an ominous scratching sound.

"KEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKE! SPIDERS!" The old woman was cackling, waving her gnarled arms in the air. Lyra took this as her cue to run and she quickly turned the corner and bolted in the opposite direction from which she had come, the swarm of soot-like spiders rushing after her. " **Come back here, young lady, and take your medicine!** " the old woman's voice rang out deafeningly across the Underground Tunnel while Lyra raced desperately towards the Tunnel exit, not wanting to find out what the spiders wanted with her or what they were capable of.

She had been fully exhausted from running away, first from the debacle at the Department Store, then the scare in the Basement, and now this. But the adrenaline rush gave her a new burst of speed and she persevered, determined to make it out from here alive.

* * *

She had thoroughly explored the Goldenrod Underground before and still thought that she vaguely remembered where the exit would be, that is, until she ran into another dead end. This time two identical-looking young men sat behind a counter, staring vacantly. "… Haircut?" asked one, cocking his head and focusing his stare onto her.

"Sorry, no thanks!" Lyra said quickly while backing out of the corridor to get her bearings. Thankfully, the spiders were slower than her and this gave her some time to pause and think.

"I just need to get my scissors!" the guy called from behind her.

"I'm sorry, I'm in a rush!"

"No, here we go!" A monstrous snapping sound caught Lyra's attention and she whipped round to see the young man standing behind her with… a pair of Scizors. "Cut! X-Scissor!" the man commanded, pointing at Lyra's head.

Clacking their wickedly-sharp pincers, the two bug Pokémon dashed toward Lyra, ready to cut all her hair off, and probably her head off her neck as well. She couldn't take any chances on this one.

"Banette! Will-O-Wisp!" she ordered, while whipping out the marionette Pokémon's Poké Ball in a flash. Upon being called out, Banette sent a stream of blue flames towards its fast-advancing adversaries while Lyra quickly stepped to the side to avoid their barbering attempts. "Now use Shadow Ball!"

The two Pincer Pokémon had just been hit by the Will-O-Wisp attack and were thrashing in agony when a huge orb of dark energy knocked both of them back into their Trainer. Hearing the scratching noises getting louder, Lyra turned and saw that the spiders were now only half a metre away from her and she recalled Banette back into its ball. Sprinting down another corridor, she prayed that this time she'd get her directions right.

Now as she racked her brains while running, this part of the Goldenrod Underground seemed more familiar. It was probably somewhere near here that she had battled a few trainers and viewed the underground photo exhibition. The part of the tunnel that she was now in was becoming more straightforward, with fewer corridors branching off at the sides. This meant that the exit must probably be near! This thought helped her to keep going and she raced forward, her pursuers hot on her heels.

 _Bingo!_ Rounding yet another corner, she saw a flight of stairs leading upwards to ground-level. But just then, the pair of Scizors raced past her using Agility before whirling around and baring their gleaming metallic pincers at her, blocking her way to the exit. Behind her, the scratching sound told her that the swarm of spiders were getting closer. And this time, the path in front of her was a straight one, with no other corridors to turn and run off into. Perhaps the only thing worse than being trapped between Scylla and Charybdis was being caught between Scizors and arachnids.

Just when she thought she was going to be ripped apart by either, a sudden Hydro Pump attack coming from behind her knocked aside the two steel Pokémon in front of her. Quickly turning to see who had saved her, she saw a boy stooping down over the spiders while opening a pink, heart-shaped box and placing it on the ground behind them. The spiders immediately halted their pursuit of Lyra, performing a u-turn and swarming into the box instead.

Lyra however did not turn and run for the stairs. Nor did she walk up to the boy and thank him for saving her. She simply stared dumbly at him.

That unmistakable smile. His signature black and gold cap, with his fringe peeking out from under it. The Azumarill bouncing happily next to him. Though she had not seen him in a long time, she immediately recognised him.

It was Ethan.


	6. Day Care Centre

"… Ethan?"

"Here, I got you this!" Ethan flashed his trademark smile while handing her the pink heart-shaped box that the spiders had crawled into, before she could even thank him for saving her.

"Umm… No thanks?"

"Did you say you want it? I knew it! This is a present from me!" said Ethan while still smiling and offering the box to her, as though he did not hear Lyra's refusal at all. And that was when another sensation of déjà vu hit her; it was here at the Goldenrod Underground that Ethan had given her the Fashion Case – the receptacle used to hold Contest Accessories and Backdrops. In fact, she could swear that the very words that he had just spoken were the exact same words that he had said the first time he had given her the Fashion Case.

"You gave me one before. Right here, in fact." Lyra was expecting him to show sudden recollection and laugh off his forgetfulness. Instead, he suddenly became serious and straightened up.

"It's not safe here, Lyra. Please come with me. You have to leave," said Ethan grimly, his smile suddenly replaced with a serious demeanour. He walked on ahead of her towards the exit, no longer offering her the Fashion Case. Although this was completely uncharacteristic of him, Lyra still followed, glad to finally meet up with someone closely familiar. Azumarill bounced up the steps behind them.

* * *

After a long and hurried journey on foot, Ethan and Lyra finally arrived at the Day Care Centre on the outskirts of the city, at Route 34. Throughout the entire journey, Ethan had been silent and all questions posed or statements made by Lyra were only met with a monotonous half-acknowledgement. The Ethan that Lyra knew was always cheerful, and would be talking non-stop without any prompting. But because she was tired from all the running-for-her-life which she had been doing, she soon gave up on her attempts at conversation and focused on trying to keep pace with his quick steps.

Now she found herself sitting at a lounge inside the Centre, while Ethan was just outside the door behind the counter, having a serious conversation with who she presumed to be the Day-Care Lady. Lyra remembered that the Day Care Couple were Ethan's grandparents after all.

Finally in a place where she felt safe, she allowed herself to relax, laying her head down to rest on the table in front of her while trying to collect her thoughts. Where had she been before waking up in the Department Store? What had she been doing? But it seemed that no matter how hard she strained, the earliest memory she had was from waking up in the Store.

She could recall things that she had done in the distant past, perhaps a year or so ago. Like challenging the Johto League Pokémon Championships. Travelling to somewhere distant, perhaps to begin a fresh journey in a new region. Or running around Johto looking for rare and elusive Pokémon which had escaped her on her maiden journey. But between all of that and her waking up in the Department Store was a huge blank. It was as if someone had taken the digital records of that missing time period and deleted them completely, leaving nothing but the assumption that nothing had happened then.

She tried next to recall specific people or Pokémon, since her memory of events failed her. Had she met anyone new or caught a special Pokémon? What had her main objective been at that time, or who had her main companion been? Each time she contemplated these, her mind drew a blank. _Nothing happened._ She was quickly concluding that she probably had a case of mild amnesia, maybe from a concussion or some psychological trauma. Or perhaps someone had kidnapped her and brainwashed that part of her life out of her main consciousness. Such things were possible, after all, if attempted by a highly-trained Psychic Pokémon under the strict control of a strong trainer. But who would do that to her and why?

"Lyra, could you come here for a moment?" Ethan's voice coming from just outside the door broke her out of her thoughts. Rising from her seat and out of her ruminations, she went behind the counter and headed out the door, where she found him standing with his back to her, staring contemplatively beyond the wire-fence in front of him. The area behind the high fence was where the Day Care let their clients' Pokémon run free. It was a huge enclosure, a wooded area, with lush grass and trees all around and a small lake in a clearing for Pokémon to play and groom themselves in. Small hutches and domiciles were scattered throughout the enclosure for the Pokémon to make use of while the entire sector was completely fenced off, even at the top, to prevent Pokémon from escaping and thieves from breaking in. Looking around, she didn't see anyone with him and presumed that the Day Care Lady had gone to tend to the Pokémon after speaking with her grandson. "Look, Lyra," Ethan said without turning around, merely pointing to a clearing in the trees where he was staring at. Coming beside him to look at what he wanted her to see, she gasped in utter shock. A torrent of confused and contradictory emotions immediately rushed through her and she suddenly felt weak, the world around her starting to spin. A mountain of confusion was beginning to overwhelm her. "… B-b-but… … … w-w-what… … w-where… … … I… … I-I thought-" she sputtered, completely stupefied.

Words completely failed her and she just stared, dumfounded at the scene before her. She knew she should feel relieved and even overjoyed, but the incomprehensibility of the situation made it too much for her to process all at once. Ethan just continued to stare at the scene, ignoring the girl next to him who was on the verge of collapsing from shock.

Instead of fainting though, she slowly sank to her knees while continuing to gape. After some moments, she finally managed to collect herself and form some coherent words. "W-What are they doing here…?' she stuttered, still feeling weak.

Ethan offered no reply to her, still standing like a statue, gazing pensively towards the scene. There in the clearing, her main party Pokémon were happily frolicking around, completely oblivious to their Trainer standing about 20 metres away behind a wire-fence. Not expecting an explanation from him and feeling strength return to her, she rose to her feet and began to shout, calling out to her beloved Pokémon to attract their attention. Meganium still continued grazing on the verdant leaves from the tree branches around it, while Kadabra napped/meditated peacefully in the shade of a nearby cluster of trees. Her Flareon, Ambipom and Nidoqueen were engrossed in playing some game together in the soft grass while her Dragonair took a leisurely swim through the crystal-clear lake. She was certain that they could hear her voice but they gave no such indication. Still, she continued to shout, tears coming to her eyes and her voice growing hoarse. She had missed her Pokémon so badly and had been so worried about their fate when they had gone missing. And now that they had suddenly reappeared here, safe and sound but without explanation, a strange combination of relief, euphoria and consternation burst through her and made her weep uncontrollably without warning. It was then the Ethan finally said something.

"They can't see or hear you Lyra, but you should say goodbye."

Though she wanted to demand what he meant by that, he didn't say this threateningly but in a sombre and gentle tone. This, along with confusion she was still in, had the effect of making her simply comply without protest, and she called out to her Pokémon, each by name, one final time. They looked so blissful and content here and that made her happy too, though this sudden and unexplained reunion and departure also filled her with immense sorrow.

"… Lyra?" A familiar female voice from the shadows behind her called out. Lyra recognised this voice as belonging to the woman who Ethan had been talking to earlier, and she realised what a fool she'd been to think that it was the Day Care Lady.

"Mom…?" She turned and sure enough, there her mother was, wearing her usual white sun dress. The woman was emerging out from the shade of the trees in the small area between the Day Care Centre building and the front of the enclosure. Lyra ran to her mother and gave her a tight hug and her mother returned the embrace affectionately.

"What are you doing here, mom?"

"Lyra, dear, I just want you to know that I love you. More than anything, honey," her mother said gently but with a tinge of sadness in her voice.

"I love you too mom. Love you so much," Lyra murmured while continuing to hug her mother. "But why are-"

"And I'm so proud of you. You've always been a good daughter to me."

"Mom, why-"

"Hush now, dear. Let me just hold you one last time."

And though this only made Lyra even more confused and apprehensive, she embraced her mother in silence, savouring the tenderness of the moment. After what seemed an eternity that yet strangely felt too short, her mother slowly let her go. And she saw that her mom's eyes were red with tears as well.

"Go now, honey. Please follow Ethan. Please," her mother choked, full of emotion while turning away and covering her face with her hands. Lyra turned and saw that her childhood friend had turned away from the fence and had been watching the scene. He too gave her a tight hug, and she returned the gesture, which was slightly awkward but definitely did not feel unpleasant.

"Come now, Lyra. It's time," he said resolutely after letting her go. He slowly led the way back into the Day Care Centre building and she followed, so many questions on her mind now but all of them answered, not with logical responses but with love.

* * *

"Here we are," He said simply, leading her to the area of the Centre where the PC terminals were located, for Trainers to withdraw and deposit their Pokémon. She followed him into the room but immediately froze beside him when she saw the display on the PC's screen. A simple and familiar digital message: _Goodbye, Lyra._

She felt her blood grow cold but she stood rooted to the floor in fear. "Come now, Lyra," Ethan said mechanically.

When she did not respond, his demeanour suddenly changed. In one swift and violent motion, he grabbed the back of her head with one hand and smashed her face against the computer monitor. Instead of feeling her face impact against hard plastic though, the monitor against her face rippled like a thick liquid. Now she felt Ethan using both arms to force her head into the computer screen and as he did, the computer screen yielded as well, softening from a liquid screen into something that felt more like a portal. As he continued pushing her in, she again felt the portal dissolving, this time into a vortex. And the vortex suddenly sucked her in whole.

And everything was blackness once again.


	7. Global Terminal

"Doctor! Doctor! She's awake!"

Her eyes were open and she saw a vast white expanse before her. She was lying down but she did not feel anything. She just stared at the white ceiling.

"Lyra honey, are you okay? How are you feeling?"

A woman in a white sun dress came into her view. She might have looked vaguely familiar but Lyra's mind was completely out of sync with itself. The concerned-looking, tear-stained face did not register in her mind; nor did the anxious, quivering words bear any meaning. The information to her mind was like water down a Psyduck's back – it merely slid off without being absorbed at all.

Now a man wearing a white coat came into view as well. He said many things to her and did a few things but Lyra did not comprehend anything and her body was completely numb to his touch. She merely continued to stare at the ceiling for that was the only thing her brain told itself to do. No thoughts passed through her blank mind at all. Even when the man shone lights into her eyes, she did not flinch for she did not notice what was going on.

"Lyra! Lyra! Are you alright?"

A third person entered her field of vision. He was wearing red, except for a black and gold thing on his head. He started talking rapidly but Lyra did not perceive him, for he was irrelevant.

In fact, everything seemed irrelevant. Everything was incomprehensible, intangible and unreal. Whatever was happening around her resembled a meaningless dream.

She was unconscious of the people talking to her, unconscious of her surroundings and unconscious of how she was feeling. She was unconscious of even the fact that she existed. And similarly, she was also unconscious of the fact that she was slipping back into unconsciousness.

* * *

A violent jolt shot through her body, causing her to bolt upright from her previously supine position on the floor. It felt like she had just been hit by a Thundershock attack and that had done a good job of waking her up. Shaking off any feelings of torpidity and that weird dream about being on a hospital bed, Lyra looked around her, taking in her surroundings. This was a colouful and brightly-lit building, not much different from the Department Store where she had awoken multiple times under similar circumstances. All around, large crowds of people and Pokémon moved about their own business, largely ignoring the girl who had been passed out on the floor. However, instead of the rows of merchandise and sales atriums which were iconic of the Department Store, this place was full of transaction counters and seating areas designed for Trainers to interact with their Pokémon. This hive of activity was unmistakably the Global Terminal – the Johto region's Global Trade Station, located on the western edge of Goldenrod City.

On the ground in front of where she had awoken was a bank of computers; the kind used by Trainers to store and transfer items and Pokémon. It seemed as though she had bit spat out of one of these PCs, after being pushed through one by Ethan at the Day Care Centre. And with the recollection of what had happened at the Day Care, a sudden thought came to her.

She pulled out Dragonair's Poké Ball.

If all her Pokémon had been safe and sound at the Day Care, then what could be in this ball? It certainly did not seem empty.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Lyra looked up at the source of the voice and saw a GTS attendant standing over her, looking down at her disdainfully. "You have a trade awaiting you. This way, please."

And just like Jill from the Department Store, the attendant physically hauled Lyra to her feet and dragged her to the counter where inter-regional trades were conducted.

"I'll take that," said the attendant, snatching Dragonair's Poké Ball out of Lyra's hands before she could react.

"Hey! Give that back!"

"Don't tell me what to do, BITCH!" the attendant suddenly yelled, shoving one hand into Lyra's face and pushing her onto the floor. She then ran through a doorway behind the counter and the door slid shut after her, clicking close with its electronic lock.

"Why, you…," Lyra quickly sprang back to her feet and vaulted over the counter to chase after the attendant but of course, the door was firmly locked. No problem. She reached for Banette's Poké Ball, fully intent on ordering the Ghost Pokémon to shred open the door with Shadow Claw or phase through the wall and knock down the obnoxious attendant inside with Night Shade.

And that was when she discovered that she did not have Banette's Poké Ball. Frantically, she began emptying the contents of her bag onto the floor, going through all the individual items meticulously, hoping against hope for Banette's ball to be merely caught in one of her items and not entirely missing.

"Looking for this?" the door clicked again and slid open to reveal the trade attendant leaning sassily in the doorway, smiling slyly while holding up a Poké Ball. "Here's your trade!" she trilled while tossing the Poké Ball to Lyra, who caught it nimbly. Checking quickly, she saw that the Poké Ball indeed contained the Banette she knew.

"YOU! HOW DARE YOU-," Lyra started angrily, advancing on the woman behind the counter but was cut off once again by another exclamation from the latter.

"SECURITY! SECURITY! SECURITY!" the attendant was screaming. Instantly, two uniformed security guards appeared, as though by teleportation, behind Lyra. Each guard grabbed one of her arms, handcuffed them together and pinned them behind her back, restraining her.

"Get this woman away from me! Please!" the attendant pleaded, suddenly frightened and cowering behind the counter.

"Alright miss, you're coming with us," said one of the security guards sternly and Lyra felt herself being pulled away and herded in the opposite direction, leaving her bag and its scattered contents lying on the floor. Well, at least she had Banette with her now.

* * *

After being led and pushed through the bustling crowd, Lyra and the two security guards reached the direct centre of the large convention centre, standing right in front of a massive digital globe. However, the guards turned her around, so that they now stood between her and the globe with her back facing it. _What was that thing called, again?_

" **IT IS TIME** ," boomed one of the guards in a low and loud voice and immediately, all activity in the Global Terminal ceased. The entire building was suddenly quiet, with all eyes, both human and Pokémon, focusing on Lyra and her captors.

" **TIME FOR THE GATHERING!** " announced the other guard. Upon that pronouncement, everyone in the building began moving silently and quickly as one towards the middle of the room, forming an immense crowd but stopping just a few metres short to leave a ring of space around Lyra, the guards and the globe.

" **THE GREAT LORD GEONET HUNGERS!** " declared one guard.

"AMEN, AMEN, ARCEUS!" the crowd responded together.

" **AND WHAT SHALL HE EAT?** "

"FRILLISH! FEMALE FRILLISH FACE!" the crowd now screamed in unison.

" **THEN LET HIM EAT!** "

The Geonet, which had been stationary, began to spin rapidly, its digital displays lighting up.

Lyra knew that she should have been panicking but somehow, the sheer absurdity of her predicament made her find the situation amusing. She couldn't help but burst out laughing, her laughter ringing out across the otherwise silent room. She didn't know whether it was her imagination but this seemed to give pause to everyone; a few gasps were heard amidst the throngs. Even the Geonet seemed to hesitate ever so slightly in its rotations. Then abruptly, it stopped dead with its displays turning red in colour.

"AAHHHH!" A shocked exclamation rippled through the congregation. As one, including the two guards, they quickly fell to their knees and bowed towards the Geonet, with their faces on the ground. And with that, the digital globe suddenly burst into flames, sparks flying from it.

"Forgive us your highness, for we have sinned!" the two guards behind her wailed.

"Forgive us, your highness!" the crowd echoed, chanting the phrase over and over again mournfully.

Though many bizarre things had happened within the last 24 hours, Lyra couldn't help but still be completely dumbfounded by the irrationality of everything.

"Just get me out of here," she muttered, to no one in particular.

"Yes, your highness!" the assembly affirmed, rising hastily to their feet.

The security guards removed the handcuffs. Then suddenly, the crowd closed in on her and she was swept off her feet, hoisted above heads and paraded like a rock star. However, instead of being crowd-surfed, the people held her in place while still remaining disturbingly-silent. Quickly they moved towards the exit of the Global Terminal, filing out of the building in an orderly manner. Out on the streets, they still continued moving in a well-coordinated fashion. Toward an unknown destination the masses advanced, in a tightly-compacted formation; like an army on the march heading for battle, with Lyra held aloft as their war standard.

* * *

 **Author's Note: This fanfic is coming to an end. The last chapter will be soon. Hope you've enjoyed reading!**


	8. Name Rater

"So you are the chosen one?" came a small, quiet voice from the midst of the pitch dark room that Lyra stood in.

It had taken a while but the crowd carrying Lyra had finally dropped her off, quite literally, at the Name Rater's house and bade her to enter alone.

"I'm sorry?"

"NO, YOU'RE NOT!" the voice suddenly roared. And when it did, two plumes of fire erupted on either side of the room, dispelling the blackness and illuminating the room in an eerie glow. From the light of the fire, she saw that in front of her was a table and behind that sat an old man, his face partially obscured in the shadows. A very sinister setup indeed.

"Come here and have a seat," the old man said, calm again while motioning to the chair across the table from him. Lyra quietly complied, assuming that this was the famed Johto Name Rater.

"Let me have a look, lassie," he said while pointing at the sole Poké Ball on Lyra's belt. Hesitantly, she unclipped it and set in on the table. He gingerly picked it up, cupped it in both hands and brought it to his face.

"So YOU are the chosen one…," the Name Rater said gently to the ball, with satisfaction in his voice, while studying it very closely. Silently, he returned it to Lyra, and then looked at her face expectantly, as if waiting for her to say something.

"Erm… So could you tell me why I'm here?" she asked tentatively.

"That is not the right question. You must ask only the right questions." the Name Rater replied sententiously.

"Okay… so what is the right question?"

"What did you eat?"

"I-I don't really remember," she replied, confused at the sudden randomness. Then she straightened when she saw the death glare the Name Rater was shooting her. "What did I eat?" she asked cautiously.

"Rock Slide," he said, simply.

"Right… And why did I eat it?"

"Because you're a stupid girl," he said nonchalantly.

"Excuse me?"

"That is not the right question. You must ask only the right questions."

"You are being rude! And totally weird!" Lyra was offended.

"That is an irrelevant statement. You must ask only the right questions."

"Fine! When did I ever eat that bloody Rock Slide?"

"2 years ago."

"And I ate it because I'm a stupid girl?"

"You ate it because you were dull and slow."

"… … Okay…" Lyra was not quite sure what else to say. "So what other questions should I ask? What happened before I woke up in the Department Store?"

"You did not."

"Yes, I did! And that's when all this weird stuff started happening!"

"You need to stop running and leave."

"What the hell does that even mean?"

"Go."

"You're asking me to leave now?"

"You have to move on."

"Who is chasing me?"

"You have no more questions to ask."

The Name Rater leaned back and folded his arms. Lyra had the sensation that one gets from reading a self-help book that gave many general tips, all of which actually meaning nothing specific at all. But yet somehow, she had the feeling that what this Name Rater was saying was actually something greatly useful to her. She just couldn't see past all his seemingly-random and nonsensical statements though.

"Well, thank you for your time… I guess."

"Follow the chosen one."

"Right. Goodbye."

And with that, Lyra opened the front door and marched out into the warm noonday sunlight, the sudden brightness blinding her. As she slowly blinked away the dazzling spots in her vision, she saw that the street was completely deserted. When the crowd had thrown her in front of the house, they had stood their ground, surrounding her against the front door and showing no intention to leave until she entered. It seemed that they had been sufficiently satisfied at having accomplished some purpose and had dispersed, going on with their lives.

 _Their lives?_ Lyra wondered if those were even real people, and if they had real lives. After all, with everything that had happened, nothing and no one seemed real anymore. What if she was actually the only real person in the world and every other human being was merely an illusion? It was as though she were the main character in a video game and every other character were merely NPCs, who simply vanished when they went out of sight, not needed anymore. She shuddered at the disturbing thought. Surely it couldn't be? But ever since waking up in the middle of the Department Store and getting jumped by Banette, she wasn't sure if she were in a dream or if something deeply sinister were happening around her. After all, why did Ethan and her mother say goodbye to her and make her leave quickly? And why had she almost been killed so many times? Who or what was trying to kill her and why? She definitely had to get to the bottom of this.

Following the Name Rater's advice, she pulled out Banette's Poké Ball and called it out. Banette giggled upon seeing her and gleefully handed her a piece of Heart Mail. The marionette Pokémon must have picked it up when it was circulating on the Global Terminal's trade network.

Well, this was probably what the Name Rater was talking about! The answer to the strange happenings around her; or at the very least, instructions on where to proceed from here. She tore open the envelope excitedly, and was promptly confused and disappointed upon reading the message inside. In small and neat handwriting was a very short message:

 _Please help me find my doll. Thanks!_

– _Lyra_

Perplexed at first, because she did not own any dolls anymore and most certainly did not write this letter, she quickly surmised who it could be.

The Copycat! Nobody else had ever passed themselves off as Lyra except for the bothersome girl living in Saffron City, who had used emotional blackmail to force Lyra to hunt down her tattered and missing Clefairy doll. After scouring the alleys of Saffron, the trek had eventually taken her to neighbouring cities before she fortuitously chanced upon it in Vermilion City. Well, at least the girl had given Lyra a Pass for the Magnet Train for her arduous efforts. If she had had a Train Pass before meeting the Copycat, she would never have agreed to help her. Or at the very least, she would hop onto the train to Goldenrod City and buy her a brand new doll from the Goldenrod Department Store, since she didn't know at the time that the Celadon Department Store also sold Clefairy dolls.

And that was where, Lyra saw, the trail was taking her to. Back to where all this madness and chaos and close brushes with death had started – the Goldenrod Department Store. Well, if whoever or whatever was behind it all had tried to kill her multiple times and forced her away from her friends and family, then Lyra was definitely prepared and eager for the final showdown that awaited her at the store. For she was completely certain that that was what would take place when she got there.


	9. Hospital

"Hello, welcome to Goldenrod Department Store! My name is Jill. How may I be of assistance?"

Lyra shot that now-familiar placid face, the first thing she saw upon entering the Department Store, a look of hatred.

"You! You're the cause of all my misery!" Lyra began, advancing menacingly on the unsuspecting and still-smiling shop assistant. "I have no idea-"

"I have sounded the alarm," came a crisp, cold voice from somewhere to her left, cutting her off. She turned and saw the vacant-looking man speaking to her from behind the customer service counter. "The police are on their way. Security will take charge of you in the meantime."

"You're under arrest, miss!" said a gruff male voice from behind her and she whirled around, just in time for the two security guards standing behind her to seize her and handcuff her hands in front of her.

This was almost like the events of the first time she remembered waking up in this store. Instead of directing her to the Department Store's administrative offices though, they brought her to a counter adjacent to the Information counter where a deliveryman stood, waiting.

"Good day. Lyra, isn't it? I have a package for you," the deliveryman intoned pleasantly, patently ignoring the fact that Lyra was under arrest. "Would you please sign here for me?" he asked, placing a brown paper package on the counter while indicating on a piece of paper he handed her for her to sign. She did so with some difficulty since both her hands were tied together, while noticing from the paper that the package was from her mom. With some excitement, she ripped open the package with her restrained hands while the deliveryman and guards stood by her side, watching.

Inside was a vacuum-packed solid plastic container and inside…

Her mom had bought her Occa Berries again.

 **FREAKING. BLOODY. OCCA. BERRIES. AGAIN.**

She felt a seizure coming on.

She didn't know what was happening but something visceral stirred within her. Deep, dark feelings of pure hatred engulfed her. Unspeakably immense malice and wrath flooded her mind, all of a sudden and for no apparent reason. She had no idea what was happening to her but it felt like she had been possessed by a violently malevolent spirit of some sort. And with nothing to stop her, she lost control of herself.

"THAT… **BITCH!** " she spat. Hurling the container full of Occa Berries to the ground, she stomped on it multiple times, though the hard plastic did not yield.

" **HOW COULD SHE DO THIS TO ME?! ALL MY BLOODY HARD-EARNED MONEY WASTED ON A HANDFUL OF FREAKING OCCA BERRIES! AGAIN!** " she roared. The fit of anger that had sparked in her like an ember now overcame her like an inferno of rage. " **NONE OF MY BLOODY POKÉMON ARE EVEN WEAK TO BLOODY FIRE!"**

She was beside herself with manic fury and began jumping on the box with her full weight. Eventually, the box cracked open and the berries were crushed underfoot, spilling their juices everywhere. The juices flowed freely, spreading in all directions and turning the wooden-brown polyvinyl chloride flooring of the Department Store a brilliant scarlet.

…

Her rampage was suddenly curtailed and she stood totally still, transfixed by the blood-red liquid oozing from under her feet. Strangely, the juice continued flowing like a mountain spring, until the entire ground level of the store was stained red. Such a beautiful crimson, so much like… _blood_.

 _Blood! Everywhere, lots of it. Everything and everyone covered in blood._

Like a shark that had taken a whiff of a single drop of blood, Lyra suddenly went wild. With inhuman strength, she snapped off the metal handcuffs, rending them asunder like a simple pair of chopsticks and let out a vicious roar. She needed blood. **Badly**.

And now that the animal named Lyra was loose and on the prowl, the other shoppers in the crowded store went wild too. People fled in all direction, slipping on the juice and trampling on each other, causing real blood to flow. Incongruously, explosions started going off in the background, knocking everyone off their feet and sending shards of debris and broken glass flying everywhere, causing injury and drawing even more real human blood. Lyra was bathed in a bloodbath of pure mayhem and she revelled in it.

Pouncing on one of the fleeing guards, she knocked him onto the ground and sank her teeth into his jugular vein. Instead of blood, warm Occa juice flooded into her mouth. _Deliciously sweet, yet intensely spicy._ Drinking deeply, the fiery aroma filled her nostrils and left a tingling in her mouth while prickling her skin. She needed more.

Whipping her head round, she pounced on another fleeing person and began ravaging her victim. The skin was tough, just like how an Occa Berry but the flesh inside was fruity and tangy. The alluring and exquisite flavour of Occa flooding her senses was overwhelming, its torrid spiciness driving her even crazier still. She was on fire, and she couldn't stop. And she certainly didn't intend to.

Standing up and wobbling on her feet, intoxicated with Occa, she surveyed the room and spotted Jill standing completely still in a corner, her face to the wall. _This would not do; why wasn't she panicking like everyone else?_

Infuriated, Lyra galloped on all fours towards the oblivious shop assistant and leapt, aiming for her neck as well. But Jill was not oblivious at all. Spinning around just as Lyra was in the air about to land on her, Jill's fist flew out and connected with Lyra's face between the eyes, sending the cannibalistic vampire-girl smashing into the ground, unconscious.

* * *

A strong spasm shook her body and she coughed violently, her eyes fluttering open. She was lying on a hospital bed and an IV drip was connected to her left arm.

"I see you're awake, miss," came a clinical female voice from somewhere behind her. Lyra thought she sounded familiar. Straining to look while lying down, she saw the back of a nurse who was checking the readings from a machine behind the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"A little dizzy but fine, I guess…" Lyra hesitated, shuddering at her last recollection. "What happened? Why am I here?"

"You had a seizure at the Department Store. They said you hit someone and did quite extensive damage."

"Did I?"

"Ahh… It doesn't matter. Anyway, someone left something for you, right over there." The nurse, still with her back to Lyra, waved toward the small beside table.

There in the middle of the table was a get-well-soon hamper, consisting of a small bouquet of flowers, a doll and a card. Bringing it closer to inspect, a chill ran through Lyra as she noted its contents. The beautiful bouquet consisted of only one kind of pretty white flower – Occa. Setting aside the doll, which was a Clefairy doll of the kind she was looking to buy from the Department Store, she picked up the card. Opening it, she found a neat and simple line of text printed in italic Times New Roman typeface: _Goodbye, Lyra!_

Shaken, Lyra turned back to the nurse. "Who sent this?"

Instead of giving an intelligible reply though, a low animalistic growl came from the nurse.

"… Nurse?"

Turning around to face her, Lyra immediately recognised her and recoiled in horror. It was Jill.

"You bitch," Jill snarled menacingly in a warning hiss. "You tried to kill me."

"I-I thought you said I had a seizure…"

"Seizure my ass! Do you even have a medical history of epilepsy?!" Jill roared. In one swift motion, she seized the IV drip and ripped it out of Lyra's arm. Lyra screamed, before realising that it was more out of fear than pain, for she barely felt a thing.

The worst was yet to come though as Lyra felt the bed rocking from beneath her. Before she could peer over the side to see what was happening though, the heavy hospital bed was heaved effortlessly into the air by Jill, who let out a barbaric cry. With a grunt, she flung the bed with full force across the ward, with Lyra still lying on it. The heavy metal bedframe smashed through the full-length windows on the opposite wall and before she knew what was going on, Lyra felt herself tumbling and free-falling through thin air.

She thought she heard herself scream before she hit the ground below with a loud crash, surrounded by twisted metal and broken glass.


	10. Train Station

**Author's Note: This is the last chapter of the story. ****Thank you everyone for reading!**

 **I know this has been a rather haphazard fanfic because I've been writing each chapter off the top of my head with no fixed plot in mind.**

 **Hope you've enjoyed this story! This is my second fanfic and my first multi-chapter fic. Please feel free to review/comment, _and do stay tuned for the Epilogue!_**

* * *

She hit the ground below with a loud crash, surrounded by twisted metal and broken glass. Incredibly, she was still alive and fully conscious, feeling no pain.

However, an object falling out of the window after her landed on her head, causing her to cry out. Rubbing her throbbing head with one hand, Lyra pulled herself up on the mattress she was still lying on and reached for the object with her other hand to study it. It was the hamper.

The Occa flowers and card were probably just touches put in by whoever-was-behind-this to spite her. The Clefairy doll, however…

She suddenly remembered her original purpose in heading to the Goldenrod Department Store – to buy a replacement doll for that infernal pest who could never keep her possessions properly. Well at least she won't have to go back to the Store and risk another violent confrontation; although she wondered if Jill would be back there, reverted to her usual store assistant form.

Pulling herself up from the mangled bed, she looked up and down the street and realised that the hospital was only just across the street from her final destination: the Goldenrod Train Station! _Final destination indeed._

Unsteadily, she ambled toward the station, still a little dizzy from incredibly having survived being defenestrated from a hospital ward.

* * *

On an ordinary day, the Goldenrod Train Station would be bustling with people at all times of the day, with the magnet train being the most efficient means of commuting between Johto and Kanto. However, ever since waking up in the Department Store, the situations Lyra had found herself in had been anything but ordinary.

This time, instead of throngs of people waiting to catch the half-hourly train to Saffron City, the station was filled only with a small amount of people. All of them sat on the waiting seats provided, alone. The room was eerily silent, with no one talking or moving. Everyone just sat like statues, staring straight ahead emotionlessly without blinking. As she observed closely, she realised that almost all of these people were elderly, although there were one or two exceptions.

There in a corner though, was a young teenaged girl. She was obviously moving and blinking. Though she had not seen her in years, Lyra immediately recognised her to be the Copycat. Upon catching sight of Lyra's noticing her, she rose in greeting.

"Hello, Lyra!" the Copycat chirped in Lyra's own voice.

"Hello, erm, Copycat," Lyra replied, not quite as cheerful. Strangely, Lyra realised that she had never gotten the girl's real name.

"I got your note. I couldn't find your exact doll so I got you a new one."

Lyra held the Clefairy doll up to the Copycat warily. Though she was now older, Lyra couldn't be sure if the girl would burst into tears and start screaming for her old doll. It was thus to her immense relief and slight perplexity when the Copycat smiled at Lyra, paying no attention to the doll at all.

"I wasn't referring to my Clefairy doll, Lyra," she smiled. "I meant my… puppet doll."

"P-puppet doll…?" Lyra asked in confusion.

"Yes my puppet," the Copycat, still smiling, pointed at the sole Poké Ball on Lyra's waist. A sudden light of realisation went off in Lyra's head.

"I forgot! You owned a Banette!" Lyra almost shouted in surprise. When she had browsed the Copycat's immense doll collection after finding her Clefairy doll the first time, Lyra had come across what she thought was a Banette doll. Owning so many life-like dolls of so many rare Pokémon from so many regions, she never thought that this one would be a real Pokémon. Until it suddenly turned and giggled, frightening the living daylights out of Lyra.

"Own," the Copycat corrected. "Would you please hand him over now? His job is done."

"O-Of course. Sure," Lyra hesitantly unclipped the Poké Ball and handed it to the Copycat. The girl took the ball from her and opened it. Emerging in a flash of light, Banette came close to the Copycat and nuzzled the girl gently in the face, confirming her to be its true Trainer.

"Good job, Banette!" the Copycat cooed while Banette giggled, happy to be finally reunited with its owner.

"So, er… what exactly was this job that you sent Banette out to do? Why did he come to me?" Lyra asked, now more confused than ever.

"To find you, of course!" said the Copycat triumphantly. "Now that I've found you, the first part of my mission is complete!"

Observing Lyra's bewildered expression, the Copycat became serious and straightened up. "Lyra, there's something I need to explain to you. Why don't you take a walk with me?"

* * *

Without waiting for a response from Lyra, the Copycat turned and began walking towards the gantry barring access to the train platform. Lyra ran to catch up with her while searching through her bag for her train pass. However, the Copycat merely sauntered past the conductor without showing him anything and he ignored her. Seeing this, Lyra quickly dashed through the gantry and again, the conductor stood like a statue and did not stop her.

Hurrying up the escalator leading up to the platform, she saw that a train had already pulled into the station, with its doors open. The Copycat stood in front of the doors nearest to the staircase, waiting for Lyra.

"Are you going back to Saffron now? Are you asking me to come with you?"

"No, Lyra. This is the final part of my mission. I'm just here to send you off," the Copycat said mildly. "This is your train."

"My train? Don't all the trains here go to Saffron?" Lyra was befuddled.

Instead of answering the question, the Copycat just smiled sadly. "You've been holding up this train for too long, Lyra. For almost 2 years. Look, I'm not allowed to explain everything to you but I'm sure you've probably figured out by now that the world you're in now isn't real, right?"

Lyra nodded slowly. Just as she suspected. And even now, as she finally came to terms with that fact, she felt her surroundings shimmer and glow with a dreamlike quality.

Something about 2 years buzzed in her memory. Something someone else had said about 2 years…

"Lyra… you can't go back to the physical world anymore… I-It's just not possible…" the Copycat said delicately, like a doctor breaking the news of a patient's death to a family member. "Y-You have to move on, Lyra. It's the only way…"

Lyra stared at her feet, feeling heavy and finding herself unable to say anything. What did all of this mean?

"Well, you got to say your goodbyes already. We managed to arrange that, lucky you," the Copycat said, trying her best to sound positive. When Lyra still did not move but continued staring at the floor, she approached her slowly and put a hand on her. "Your train is here. You should board. Everyone is waiting for you."

Looking up slowly and into the carriages, Lyra thought she saw a few people sitting in the train. They too seemed to be stone-still. "They don't look like they're raring to go," Lyra pointed out.

"I didn't mean those others, although yes, they too are waiting. I meant… I meant your mom… Ethan… all of us. Everyone. They're waiting for you to board."

Lyra's eyes widened at the mention of her the people closest to her. "I will see them when the train gets to… my destination? On the other side?" _The… other side?_

"Someday, they will. Come now," the Copycat said gently, while using her arm on Lyra to guide her slowly towards the train. "Someday, we all will see you again. On the other side."

Lyra began walking mechanically to the open doors, feeling like she was being led by an invisible force that she had no control over. She was vaguely aware that the Copycat was no longer walking with her but still, she felt as though she was on autopilot, her body magnetically drawn into the magnet train.

As she boarded, she turned one last time to look at the Copycat, a face she recognised. The Copycat smiled. And in that smile, that face that could imitate so many others, she saw the smiles of everyone she knew and cared about. Her mom's loving smile. Ethan's ever-cheerful grin. Professor Elm's warmth. The friendship of all the other companions she had met. Even the selfless devotion of her Pokémon.

At last, she felt ready to leave. Looking forward again, she boarded the train. Behind her, the train doors quickly slid shut and the locomotive began moving immediately. Looking around her, she saw that the train was again filled with mostly old people, all of them sitting alone. She too took a seat and contemplated all that had happened to her in her life.

* * *

As the train pulled out of the darkness of the station into the outdoor brightness of noonday, dazzling light entered the cabin windows, blinding her. But as the light increased in intensity, she knew that this was not ordinary sunlight. This radiance had a physical tangibility which enveloped her, holding her in a brilliant and warm embrace of sheer blazing whiteness.

And as she was enfolded in light, seeing nothing else, Lyra suddenly knew not who she was anymore or remembered at all what had happened to her. She only knew where she was being taken and she smiled one final time in utter bliss, as her entire being and the whole train dissolved into the light.

 **\- The End -**


	11. Epilogue

The hospital room was crowded with people, most of them standing against the walls but a few closer ones like the mother and Ethan sitting on chairs by the bedside. The room was filled with a solemn silence as everyone in the room waited for the comatose girl on the bed to die.

Sitting on both ends of the bed was a Banette and its mistress – a small, teenaged girl that everyone knew as the Copycat. With Copycat and Banette each joining hands with the unconscious girl to form a triangle, both human and Pokémon's eyes were tightly shut as they were deep in a trance, doing the job that they had been called on to do.

* * *

It was 2 years ago that Lyra had once again decided to enter the Indigo League Pokémon Championships Tournament. The first time she had challenged the League, she had finished in the top eight, which was a roaring success for a rookie trainer challenging the league for the first time. The second time she had challenged the league, she had placed third. Now, she was determined to claim the title of overall Champion for herself.

To that end, Lyra had doubled down her training, working endlessly to toughen up her Pokémon. She was especially determined to evolve her Dragonair into a Dragonite, something only the most experienced Dragon Tamers could do.

Her new favourite training spot had been Mt. Silver. Unlike her old favourite training ground of the Whirl Islands, the terrain and wild Pokémon on Mt. Silver were much tougher, which was perfect for her – until that one tragic day.

On that fateful day, a team of Pokémon Rangers, exploring a mountainous cave, came across a large pile of boulders deep in the interior. Having received a distress signal from a Trainer's Pokégear a few days earlier, the rangers were canvassing an isolated area on Mt. Silver, attempting to locate the source of the signal. The boulders appeared likely to be the work of wild Graveler or Golem and hence the rangers set to work, lifting off the rocks to extricate what was underneath.

At the bottom of the Rock Slide were an unconscious Ambipom, Nidoqueen, Kadabra and Lyra. Though the Pokémon bore deep battle-scars, it was apparent that they had tried to shield their Trainer from the avalanche of rocks.

* * *

The doctors at the hospital did all they could but though Lyra's medical condition was out of immediate danger, they could not resuscitate her. The physical trauma inflicted on her brain from the Rock Slide meant that she would never awaken from her coma.

Still, her mother hung on to the vain hope that there might be a miracle, and insisted that her daughter be kept on life support. On the other hand, it was Ethan who decided that alternative action should be taken. He could no longer bear the agony of seeing his beloved Lyra futilely kept afloat in a vegetative state month after month, her body being fed like a plant while her mind was no longer there.

He had known the Copycat from his earlier travels through Kanto. Like most of the inhabitants of Saffron City, the girl possessed extraordinary psychic powers and was skilful in honing them to reach the inner recesses of a person's consciousness.

Having met Lyra before and being indebted to her for her help, the Copycat agreed to help trying to contact Lyra one final time. As a Ghost Pokémon, her Banette would help guide her mind to approach those souls wandering close to the realm of death, without accidentally taking the irreversible step into the chasm dividing the world of the living from the afterlife; for she knew that this limbo area was where Lyra's consciousness slept.

Her mission was to try to see if she could bring Lyra's soul back, and if she could not, to stop her from wandering adrift and send her off to the other side. Meanwhile, doctors attempted to revive her once again.

* * *

Various medical procedures were attempted. Experimental brain surgery, psychiatric medication, defibrillation, anything. Every single procedure failed. And each time the Copycat sent out Banette to try to reach her consciousness, her mind fled, creating traps for itself or merely blacking itself out.

There seemed to be a change though when with extreme effort, the Copycat managed to channel Ethan and her mother to commune with Lyra's consciousness. However, it was an extremely brief moment before the forces of life and death separated them. And it was then that the Copycat realised that these forces were what prevented Lyra from ever coming back. In the physical world, Lyra's eyes had opened but still, her brain was dead.

As the Copycat and Banette finally managed to catch up with Lyra, it was apparent that she was ready to make the crossing to the other side, and there was no turning back. Instead of keeping the trainer in limbo though, the Copycat knew that it was only right to let Lyra leave in peace.

* * *

In the hospital room, the machines monitoring Lyra's vital signs slowly began to give off fading signals, before letting out a flat monotone to indicate that it did not detect any signs of life anymore.

The Copycat slowly opened her eyes and looking at the people assembled, nodded. Her mission was complete.

The mom let out an anguished wail and buried her face in the blanket covering her daughter's body. Ethan closed his eyes, relief washing over him that it was finally over.

A single tear slid down his face.


End file.
